Al Bundy faced the problem of finding out who’s land was who’s when his neighbor and him got into an argument over an apple tree. He called in a surveyor and they found out the tree belonged to Marcy, his neighbor, and Al became jealous. Al and his family then electricuted Marcy. Marcy retaliated when she found out that she owned Al’s driveway.
After that, Al was forced to pay a 5,000 dollar fee to drive in his driveway. Just as desolation arose from the greed for land between Marcy and Al, the same has happened with man throughout history. In the book, The Martian Chronicles, this theme is portrayed with a passion. Man’s lust with imperialism leads to destruction.
Man’s greed for land causes desolation. In the begginning, a first expedition is sent to Mars to try to colonize it. This plan is cut short when a Martian, who has telepathic abilities, senses the men coming. When the men land, they meet a martian with a gun and so ends the first expedition. Next, another group is sent to try to gain land on Mars.
These men land and go knocking from one door to the next saying that they were from Earth. Each martian tells them to go to another person. Finally, the men come to a house where a man gives them a key and says they “will be taken care of” in the next room. They enter only to find that they are locked within an insane asylum. They are taken next to the ship and then killed. In the thirdexpedition, the group lands and at first think they are on Earth but traveled back in time to the year 1920.
The captain and one of his men tell his men to stay on ship while they go and survey the land. However, when they came back they saw their men talking and associating with many of their dead family members. Each of the crew men go to the house with their family members. At the end of the night, the captain finally realizes what was going on.
The Martians were giving them illusions of their families but it was too late…the entire crew was dead. Last comes the fourth expedition to Mars where they land near a Martian ruin. One of the men searches through the city and start to read some of the Martian books. He finds out just how sophisticated the Martians were and fears of the destructions his fellow crew members caused. He starts on a killing spree and kills four men.
Finally, he is killed and the crew members send word to Earth saying it is safe to colonize Mars. In all of the last four expeditions, there was only one cause: to colonize Mars. However, each time they tried in one way or another ended in destruction. Which brings me on to my next point, the death of millions of Martians due to humans coming to their planet. Because humans tried to colonize on Mars, chickenpox was given to the Martians and the entire race died from it.
The race died because of man’s imperialistic ideals. But all the destruction was not only occurring on the planet Mars, for Earth had it’s share of destruction due to greed for land as well. The countries on Earth began to fight over control of land, and atomic bombs became the weapon of choose. As they tried to gain control over each other, they only led to their own demise. Earth was desolute…left to ruin, to die in the anger that man had been born into, to feel the pain that man had felt for generations. This same pain was felt on Mars as well. Mars was left in pieces…it’s people dead, it’s streets a void, it’s air polluted, and it’s animals dead, as well as it’s hope.
Man’s greed for land once again caused the destruction of the world around him. However, the piece of evidence that best proves that man’s lust with imperialism leads to destruction is the original name of the book. It was originally called The Silver Locust. Locust come and destroy everything in their path. As soon as they reach a field, you can be pretty sure the field will be dead within a few weeks. He called the rockets locust because with them they bought destruction called man and his greed.
Al and Marcy duked it out for control of the land between them. Both came out injured: Marcy being electricuted and Al in the dishing out 5,000 dollars to park in his driveway. Man did just the same in The Martian Chronicles. Man’s lust with imperialism leads to destruction.
